See all mY generation posts here.

Change is good and anyone who looks around knows that change is needed. I don’t mean changing from a Democratic majority in Congress to a Republican, that’s not change, it’s more of the same, but in a different color.

Paul Blank made this comment about Wal-Mart, but it applies to a wide swath of businesses, “Now is the time for Wal-Mart to seize the moment for true change. The American people are tired of publicity stunts, half-truths and empty words that have become synonymous with corporate America.”

Lots of companies claim that they are changing, from Wal-Mart to Wall Street, but, cynic that I am, I tend to agree with Bill Potter when he said, “At this point, I don’t know whether it will be cosmetic changes or real reform. I’m holding back my applause.”

But what about individuals? Do they change?

Guy Fieri seems to think that you have a limited amount of time in which to change, “At 38, we’re not going to change. You are who you are,” which I think is ridiculous considering current life spans. Anyway, I believe that as long as you’re breathing you can change.

While you can change yourself, you can’t change others, but you can follow Jennifer Star’s sage advice, “You can’t change anyone; you can only change the way you react to them. Don’t let other people’s actions affect you. Just figure out a way to resolve conflicts and avert uncomfortable situations.”

Speaking of changing yourself, a good place to start is to remember the words of Dr. Donald Redelmeier’s, “Do not get trapped into prior thoughts. It’s perfectly O.K. to change your mind as you learn more.”
Change, your own and the world’s, is truly in your hands. I believe Margaret Mead when she said, “Never believe that a few caring people can’t change the world.”

I have to believe that because it was just a few uncaring people who so recently screwed it up.

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I know people who are fascinated by technology, by science, by pop culture, but it is people, the source of all that, that fascinate me.

Not people in terms of gossip, Twitter or Facebook; not just what they do, but why they do it.

For that reason I sometimes watch Biography and American Greed on CNBC, read biographies and articles.

So I thought I’d share a few recent ones with you.

I’ll start with a bit of fluff; not an article I’d normally read, but I was bored and clicked on the link. It’s a profile of Naomi Campbell, not glitz or sleaze, but an interesting overview of a woman who has done the almost impossible—stayed an icon of beauty and interest, and still going strong, for 25 years in an industry that typically uses them up in four or five.

Did you know that three Italian towns produced most of more than 100 commercial knife sharpeners in the US today? Here is the story of one of those families that is reinventing itself so it will be around for future generations.

In our land of instant gratification people are unlikely to want anything enough to spend years to get it. Now meet Cha Sa-soon, a 69-year-old widow who lives alone in a mountain-ringed village in Korea, who wanted a drivers license badly enough to take the test 960 times before she passed. Who do you know with that kind of tenacity?

Tell me, if you were going to run a Ponzi scheme where would you look for your victims? What kind of organization or network would you want to infiltrate? Wayne McLeod ran a small scheme as these things go, just $43 million, but that entire amount came from law enforcement officers at all levels, including Homeland Security and the FBI. But there won’t be a trial, McLeod killed himself, but first sent an email to his investors saying, “I pray that at some point in time you can and will forgive me.” Excuse me, I don’t think so!

Finally, if you ever thought that owning a bordello would be a good career move, but you didn’t want to deal with the sleaze, and you speak German there is a bordello for sale on eBay. (See pictures here.) Let me know if you buy it, because I’m sure it would be the kind of story I like to hear.

Flickr image credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pedroelcarvalho/2812091311/

The following is from an email sent to me as a political statement about Congress and, while applicable, it’s also a cautionary tale about many attitudes embedded in corporate culture and every other human organization.

It addresses the infamous “we’ve always done it that way” reasoning explaining how it takes root and perpetuates itself.

Start with a cage containing five monkeys. Inside the cage, hang a banana on a string and place a set of stairs under it. Before long, a monkey will go to the stairs and start to climb towards the banana.

As soon as he touches the stairs, spray all the other monkeys with cold water. After a while another monkey makes the attempt with same result, all the other monkeys are sprayed with cold water. Pretty soon when another monkey tries to climb the stairs, the other monkeys will try to prevent it.

Now, put the cold water away. Remove one monkey from the cage and replace it with a new one. The new monkey sees the banana and wants to climb the stairs.

To his shock, all of the other monkeys attack him. After another attempt and attack, he knows that if he tries to climb the stairs he will be assaulted.

Next, remove another of the original five monkeys and replace it with a new one.

The newcomer goes to the stairs and is attacked. The previous newcomer takes part in the punishment with enthusiasm.

Likewise, replace a third original monkey with a new one, then a fourth, then the fifth. Every time the newest monkey takes to the stairs he is attacked.

Most of the monkeys that are beating him up have no idea why they were not permitted to climb the stairs or why they are participating in the beating of the newest monkey. After replacing all of the original monkeys, none of the remaining monkeys have ever been sprayed with cold water. Nevertheless, no monkey ever again approaches the stairs to try for the banana.

Why not?

Because as far as they know, that is the way it has always been done around here.

So the next time you say or hear “we’ve always done it that way” remember the monkeys and take a hard look at whether what was done in the past deserves to be done in the future.

Flickr image credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pazzani/4233059189/

Einstein once said, “The world is not dangerous because of those who do harm, but because of those who look at it without doing anything.”

He also said, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.”

Sadly, those two statements sum up much of the efforts to change/reform/fix our schools.

Education is the future of our country and teachers are central to its success or stagnation.

I read two articles and I’m interested to know what you think of the ideas in them.

The first is a discussion of the pros and cons of grading teachers’ skill.

The system calculates the value teachers add to their students’ achievement, based on changes in test scores from year to year and how the students perform compared with others in their grade.

The second one looks at an experimental program that puts teachers in charge of the school while they continue teaching.

The Newark teachers are part of a growing experiment around the country to allow teachers to step up from the classroom and lead efforts to turn around struggling urban school systems.

I’m looking forward to hearing your thoughts on these two out-of-the-box ideas.

Stock.xchng image credit: http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1195959

Flickr image credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/gi/518613153/

Do you pride yourself on your interviewing skills; on your ability to filter out your own prejudices, such as an ugly tie or the fact that you can’t stand blondes? Do you allow outside events to influence your interview evaluations?

If you answered ‘no’ a researcher in Canada has news for you.

Dr. Donald A. Redelmeier examined University of Toronto medical school admission interview reports from 2004 to 2009. After correlating the interview scores with weather archives, he determined that candidates who interviewed on foul-weather days received ratings lower than candidates who visited on sunny days. In many cases, the difference was significant enough to influence acceptance.

Wow. Bad weather just took on a whole new meaning.

These unconscious attitudes impact far more than interviewing; they color all our actions at work, at home and out in the world.

Being human means being vulnerable to unconscious and often illogic actions and reactions, but it also means finding a way to compensate for them.

How? By monitoring research, such as Redelmeier’s, and staying hyper-awareness of the foibles embedded in your MAP.

It doesn’t mean eliminating them, just being aware enough to offset their impact.

Flickr image credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/zedbee/103147140/

Dan McCarthy is this month’s host and he has set the carnival to an NFL theme in honor of the start of football season. (Damn! This year is passing at light speed!) He also explains a special NFL promotion that could put you at the Super Bowl next year.

BTW, The United Way and the NFL are teaming up for the first Back to Football Friday, a celebration of the start of the NFL season and an effort to promote youth health and wellness on Friday, September 10. They are encouraging fans of all ages to show their NFL team pride at work or with their friends by wearing their favorite team’s gear or colors and planning parties, and to join the United Way and NFL’s campaign to end childhood obesity. Anyone who registers is eligible to win a trip for two to Super Bowl XLV. One winning workplace will receive a visit from an NFL player at an NFL-hosted office party. Find out how to get involved here: www.LiveUnited.org/backtofootball.

So grab a beer and some chips, or whatever floats your boat, and enjoy our big game.

The tailgate party:

We’ll start this month’s edition with a little warm-up in the parking lot.

Erin Schreyer and Mike Henry team up to give us some spicy grub with What Really Makes You a Leader? posted at Lead Change Group. Seems like everyone has an opinion on this one, with over 70 comments.

David Burkus gives us a bucket of my favorite food, with My Buffalo Wild Wings Rant posted at LeaderLab.

Jason Seiden brought the paper plates and napkins, with Life Is Messy posted at Fail Spectacularly!.

Who brought the beer? None other than Sharlyn Lauby, with The Business Case for Managing Ourselves posted at HR Bartender,

and Mark Stelzner, with  Why Morons Win posted at Inflexion Point.

Kick-off:

The game starts with a bang with lots of high scoring action! Here’s Jane Perdue, our HR Goddess, with Excellence ? 1; Perfectionism ? 0 posted at Get Your Leadership BIG On!.

First to score is Art Petty with Leadership Caffeine-Give Your People Room to Run posted at Management Excellence.

Kevin W. Grossman gets a sack with Influential Leadership Can Trump Gender Bias posted at Leaders. Better. Brighter.™ The Glowan Consulting Group L3 Blog.

Bret Simmons is penalized for unnecessary roughness with Remarkably Unprofessional Behavior | Bret L. Simmons – Positive Organizational Behavior posted at Bret L. Simmons – Positive Organizational Behavior.

Wally Bock gives some veteran advice to the rookies in the huddle, with Simple Leadership Basics posted at Three Star Leadership Blog.

The 2nd quarter:

Jennifer V. Miller starts the 2nd quarter with a trick play –  The Z Factor posted at The People Equation.

Jim Stroup counters with something from his playbook, with his review of “Good Boss, Bad Boss“, posted at Managing Leadership.

Mary Jo Asmus has some great coaching advice of her own, with On Being a Coach, posted at Aspire-CS.

Bill Matthies does a little end-zone celebration with Let The Good Times Roll (But Plan For The Bad) posted at Business Wisdom: Words to Manage By.

To close the half, Alice Snell puts it through the uprights for three points with Hardwiring Performance posted at Taleo Blog – Talent Management Solutions.

Halftime entertainment:

We’ve got a great musical line-up for your halftime entertainment! Miki Saxon starts it off with a couple hits from her latest album, Ducks in a Row, with Triple A Culture is One of the Worst, and Don’t be Pizzled, Build a RAT Culture, at MAPping Company Success. What the heck is “pizzled”? You’ll have to read the post to find out.

Anne Perschel brings out her amazing leaping leadership frogs, with  Leadership Leap Frog – How to Keep on Learning posted at Germane Insights.

Glain Roberts-McCabe brings back a classic band with Leadership Lessons from Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage a rockin’ focus on goals | RoundtableTalk posted at RoundtableTalk.

Adi Gaskell gets the crowd fired up with 7 ways to schmooze your way to the top posted at The Management Blog.

David Zinger closes out the entertainment with Employee Engagement, Self-Efficacy and Albert Bandura posted at David Zinger Employee Engagement.

The Third Quarter:

Bengamin McCall starts off the second half with an onside kick, with Your Title is Boss, not Jerk, posted at REThink HR.

Nissim Ziv recovers a fumble with How would you Describe Your Leadership Style? posted at Job Interview & Career Guide.

Kris Routch breaks a long run with Leadership Lessons from a 16-Year-Old, posted at DDI’s Talent Management Intelligence blog.

Nick McCormick is up in the booth looking for answers, with Ask Yourself, “What Can I Do?” posted at Joe and Wanda on Management.

Andy Klein runs a draw play for big yardage with Organisational change needs leadership of employee creativity posted at Fortune Group Blog.

The Fourth Quarter:

This game is a nail-biter, so stay with us.

Michael Lee Stallard returns a punt for a big gain with Burnout Results From Living in Conflict with Values posted at Michael Lee Stallard.

Michael Cardus reminds us that there’s no “I” in “teamwork” with Leaders develop structure for teams posted at Create-Learning Team Building & Leadership Blog.

Mike King runs an all out blitz with Examining Your Own Belief Structure posted at Learn This.

Sylvia Lafair runs a creative play with Leadership, Creativity and Getting Unstuck posted at Sylvia Lafair – “Elegant Leadership”.

And right at the final gun, Chris Stowell runs it in for a score with Leadership Is Needed Now: Don’t Wait To Develop Your People posted at Leadership In Action.

The post game show:

Mike Miranda checks in on the NBA highlights, and gives us Lebron…meh…Gen Y has done Better! posted at Y the World Goes ‘Round.

Lois Melbourne reviews the highlights with Be an Accountable Leader and Get to Lunch First!

Kathy C does the locker room interviews with Preparing to Interview a Job Candidate posted at The Thriving Small Business.

Dallas Burrows breaks down the Xs and Os with What Exactly Is Management Theory? posted at Biz-gasm.

Elyse Nielsen presents the game ball with Searching for Healthcare IT Leadership – Uncovering Your IT Practices posted at Anticlue.

Bob Lieberman interviews the coaches and gives us Teaching Leadership Skills posted at Cultivating Creativity – Developing Leaders for the Creative Economy.

Have a wonderful and safe holiday!

See all mY generation posts here.

C’mon, guys. What else would today be about?

Scott Johnson said, “A bad day at work is better than a good day in hell.” If you don’t agree, ask any of the thousands of people who are there because they don’t have and can’t find a job.

And on a day dedicated to the working stiffs, management should take to heart the words of Henry George, “Poorly paid labor is inefficient labor, the world over,” before finding yet more ways to reduce their compensation.

Thomas Geoghegan explains succinctly why unions aren’t organizing the way they used to, “When people ask me, ‘Why can’t labor organize the way it did in the thirties?’ the answer is simple: everything we did then is now illegal,” as are many other actions from that era.

Everybody works hard these days, whether they sweat or not. Victor Hugo understood that when he said, “A man is not idle because he is absorbed in thought. There is a visible labor and there is an invisible labor.”

Samuel Gompers offers two insightful comments.

The first recognizes that labor knows boundaries.

“All other holidays are in a more or less degree connected with conflicts and battles of man’s prowess over man, of strife and discord for greed and power, of glories achieved by one nation over another. Labor Day . . . is devoted to no man, living or dead, to no sect, race, or nation.”

The second seems to me to apply to any thinking human, not just those designated ‘labor’.

“What does labor want? We want more schoolhouses and less jails; more books and less arsenals; more learning and less vice; more leisure and less greed; more justice and less revenge; in fact, more of the opportunities to cultivate our better natures.”

Finally, Elbert Hubbard offers some profound advice to all those who run flat out 24/7, “The man who doesn’t relax and hoot a few hoots voluntarily, now and then, is in great danger of hooting hoots and standing on his head for the edification of the pathologist and trained nurse, a little later on.”

I hope you take his words to heart, unplug and hoot a bit this weekend.

Flickr image credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/valeriebb/4661655797/